Culture | The Guardianhttps://www.theguardian.com/us/culture
Culture news, opinion, video and pictures from the Guardianen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2019Mon, 21 Jan 2019 22:55:42 GMT2019-01-21T22:55:42Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2019The Guardianhttps://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttps://www.theguardian.com
Erykah Badu defends R Kelly: 'I love you. Unconditionally'https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/21/erykah-badu-defends-r-kelly
<p>The musician says she’s ‘putting up a prayer right now’ for the R&amp;B singer following a TV documentary that repeated allegations against him</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/erykahbadu">Erykah Badu</a> has defended <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/r-kelly">R Kelly</a> after a TV documentary series reiterated multiple allegations of sexual abuse against the R&amp;B singer. Kelly has repeatedly denied all claims.</p><p>During a performance at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago on 19 January, Badu told the crowd: “I dunno how everybody else feel about it but I’m putting up a prayer right now for R. I hope he sees the light of day if he done all those things that we’ve seen on TV and heard those ladies talk about. I hope he sees the light of day and comes forward.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/21/erykah-badu-defends-r-kelly">Continue reading...</a>R KellyErykah BaduMusicCultureR&BMon, 21 Jan 2019 10:58:19 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/21/erykah-badu-defends-r-kellyComposite: Getty Images/Invision/APComposite: Getty Images/Invision/APLaura Snapes2019-01-21T10:58:19ZFrom Quentin Tarantino to Hilary Duff: why Hollywood’s ‘Tatesploitation’ rush is wronghttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/21/sharon-tate-quentin-tarantino-hilary-duff-why-hollywoods-tatesploitation-rush-is-wrong
<p>It is 50 years since Charles Manson’s followers murdered Sharon Tate. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and other films are marking this macabre event, but is it time cinema moved on? <br><br></p><p>Sharon Tate suffered a terrible fate, but it keeps getting worse. Hers is the most horrific death imaginable, repeatedly stabbed by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/20/charles-manson-dead-cult-leader-sharon-tate">Charles Manson</a>’s followers in her Los Angeles home, aged 26, and eight-and-a-half months pregnant with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jan/30/hollywood-reverence-child-rapist-roman-polanski-convicted-40-years-on-run">Roman Polanski</a>’s baby. Now, as we approach the 50th anniversary of her death this August, it is being restaged again and again.</p><p>The highest-profile example is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/aug/30/damon-herriman-to-play-charles-manson-in-quentin-tarantino-film">Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood</a>, due for release this summer, with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/feb/03/margot-robbie-woman-lead-flop">Margot Robbie</a> as Tate, and the Manson murders the focal point for a sprawling Tinseltown survey. Tarantino’s Manson, Damon Herriman, also plays the role in the next season of Netflix’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/oct/13/mindhunter-review-like-mad-men-with-added-serial-killers">Mindhunter</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/21/sharon-tate-quentin-tarantino-hilary-duff-why-hollywoods-tatesploitation-rush-is-wrong">Continue reading...</a>Quentin TarantinoMargot RobbieFilmCultureMon, 21 Jan 2019 09:59:16 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/21/sharon-tate-quentin-tarantino-hilary-duff-why-hollywoods-tatesploitation-rush-is-wrongComposite: Instagram/margotrobbie; Cine Text/Allstar; Voltage PicturesComposite: Instagram/margotrobbie; Cine Text/Allstar; Voltage PicturesSteve Rose2019-01-21T09:59:16ZTeam of Vipers review: Conway and Kelly bitten in loyalist tell-allhttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/21/team-of-vipers-review-donald-trump-white-house-kelly-conway-sanders
<p>Cliff Sims criticises staffers including Sarah Sanders, who ‘didn’t press as hard as she could for the rock-bottom truth’</p><p>Cliff Sims, a former aide in Donald Trump’s White House, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/19/us/politics/team-of-vipers-book-cliff-sims.html">reportedly received</a> a seven-figure advance for dishing dirt on his ex-boss. If Sims actually banked a million dollars, his agent deserves a round of props. As for Sims’ publishers, they may have overpaid.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/19/john-kelly-donald-trump-cliff-sims-book">John Kelly shocked staff with speech 'hostile' to Trump, tell-all book reveals</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/21/team-of-vipers-review-donald-trump-white-house-kelly-conway-sanders">Continue reading...</a>Politics booksTrump administrationDonald TrumpKellyanne ConwaySteve BannonUS politicsUS newsRepublicansBooksMon, 21 Jan 2019 10:57:43 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/21/team-of-vipers-review-donald-trump-white-house-kelly-conway-sandersPhotograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesLloyd Green2019-01-21T10:57:43ZFrom red pills to red, white and blue Brexit: how The Matrix shaped our realityhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/21/from-red-pills-to-red-white-and-blue-brexit-how-the-matrix-shaped-our-reality
<p>Twenty years after the release of The Matrix, its prescient vision of a virtual world continues to mirror events in real life </p><p>T<em>he Matrix</em> has barely started when a phone booth is demolished, left as a smashed pancake of glass and metal. It was a prophetic touch. Payphones were still everywhere in western cities when the film came out in March 1999. By the time of the first sequel four years later, they were already half-vanished, replaced by a private army of Nokias and Motorolas.</p><p>But now <em>The Matrix</em> is a relic too, a quaint slice of 90s nostalgia about to celebrate its 20th anniversary. “1999”, the recent song from Charli XCX and Troye Sivan, features wistful lyrics (“Those days, it was so much better”) and <a href="http://charlixcx.tumblr.com/" title="">cover art</a> in which the millennial pop stars wear the black leather costumes made famous by Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss as they battled the machines enslaving humanity. Yet for a relic, it never slipped far from view – still a familiar reference in a world divided between internet and IRL (in real life), its characters endlessly circulating in memes and gifs, often as vehicles for the acrid politics that define our 21st century.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/21/from-red-pills-to-red-white-and-blue-brexit-how-the-matrix-shaped-our-reality">Continue reading...</a>FilmScience fiction and fantasy filmsCulturePhilosophy booksVirtual realityThe MatrixKeanu ReevesMon, 21 Jan 2019 07:00:08 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/21/from-red-pills-to-red-white-and-blue-brexit-how-the-matrix-shaped-our-realityPhotograph: PRPhotograph: PRDanny Leigh2019-01-21T07:00:08ZLady Gaga says Mike and Karen Pence are 'worst representation' of Christianityhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/21/lady-gaga-says-mike-and-karen-pence-are-worst-representation-of-christianity
<p>Pop star criticises US vice-president’s wife who teaches at a school that discriminates against LGBT students and parents</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/lady-gaga">Lady Gaga</a> has criticised the US vice-president, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/mike-pence">Mike Pence</a>, and his wife, Karen, over <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/16/karen-pence-teach-school-bans-lgbt-students-teachers">her role teaching art</a> at a school that excludes LGBT students and parents.</p><p>On stage at her Las Vegas concert residency, Gaga said: “You say we should not discriminate against Christianity; you are the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian. I am a Christian woman and what I do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice and everybody is welcome. So you can take all that disgrace Mr Pence and you can look yourself in the mirror and you’ll find it right there.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/21/lady-gaga-says-mike-and-karen-pence-are-worst-representation-of-christianity">Continue reading...</a>Lady GagaMike PencePop and rockMusicCultureUS newsLGBT rightsUS educationEducationMon, 21 Jan 2019 09:28:18 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/21/lady-gaga-says-mike-and-karen-pence-are-worst-representation-of-christianityPhotograph: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Park MGM Las VegasPhotograph: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Park MGM Las VegasBen Beaumont-Thomas2019-01-21T09:28:18ZDragon showdowns and more shocks: what we want from the Game of Thrones finalehttps://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/21/dragon-showdowns-and-more-shocks-what-we-want-from-the-game-of-thrones-finale
<p>Season seven was shaky at best – and far too full of battles. Here’s how Thrones can bow out on a high</p><p>Considering what a bunch of entitled, vegan sausage roll-eating brats we apparently all are in 2019, there’s a fair chance the final season of Game of Thrones will satisfy exactly no one. </p><p>Finales, after all, are notoriously tricky to get right. Some shows nail their farewells with a flourish (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/sep/30/breaking-bad-series-finale-tv-review">Breaking Bad</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/apr/15/sopranos-finale-david-chase-explanation">The Sopranos</a>). Others bisect their fanbase right down the middle (<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/tvandradioblog/2009/mar/24/battlestar-galactica-television">Battlestar Galactica</a>, er, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/15/sopranos-finale-tony-soprano-killed-onion-rings">The Sopranos</a>) and become the launchpad for petty online spats with strangers for decades to come. Given that season seven of Game of Thrones was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/aug/29/you-review-game-of-thrones-season-seven-a-dumbed-down-shark-jumping-mess">its shakiest yet</a>, season eight could feasibly fall into the latter camp.<br><br>In order to prevent a backlash of such magnitude that it may knock the Earth off its rotational axis, Game of Thrones must ensure it sticks the landing, for the sake of us all. And it can, if it keeps to some very simple principles.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/21/dragon-showdowns-and-more-shocks-what-we-want-from-the-game-of-thrones-finale">Continue reading...</a>Game of ThronesTelevision & radioCultureMon, 21 Jan 2019 06:00:08 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/21/dragon-showdowns-and-more-shocks-what-we-want-from-the-game-of-thrones-finalePhotograph: Sky AtlanticPhotograph: Sky AtlanticLuke Holland2019-01-21T06:00:08ZRumble: the story of the Native Americans who shaped rock musichttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/21/rumble-the-story-of-the-native-americans-who-shaped-rock-music
<p>In an eye-opening new documentary, hidden Native American figures are finally given credit for influencing a vast amount of popular music</p><p>For a song with no lyrics, Rumble managed to say a lot about sex, swagger and the allure of teenage rebellion. Released in 1958 by Native American guitarist Link Wray, the track – all dirty chord progressions and blistering guitar – was an omen of the impending 60s rock revolution, and is widely credited with inventing the power chord that would become essential to rock, metal, thrash and other tangential genres. Sixty-one years after its release, Rumble remains the only instrumental track to be banned from American radio, for fear it would incite youth violence.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/18/aj-lambert-how-frank-sinatras-grandaughter-does-it-her-way">AJ Lambert: how Frank Sinatra's granddaughter does it her way</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/21/rumble-the-story-of-the-native-americans-who-shaped-rock-music">Continue reading...</a>MusicDocumentaryCultureMon, 21 Jan 2019 08:00:07 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/21/rumble-the-story-of-the-native-americans-who-shaped-rock-musicPhotograph: Bruce SteinbergPhotograph: Bruce SteinbergKatie Bain2019-01-21T08:00:07ZShattered Glass: why we need to stop deconstructing our superheroeshttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/shattered-glass-why-we-need-to-stop-deconstructing-our-superheroes
<p>M Night Shyamalan’s ambitious yet empty end to his comic book-inspired trilogy should be the last attempt to make faux-intellectual points about big screen heroes</p><p>This weekend sees the release of M Night Shyamalan’s Glass, the long-awaited follow-up to his 2000 superhero drama Unbreakable and his 2017 thriller Split. Like Unbreakable, Glass is interested in deconstructing the figure of the comic book superhero (and supervillain), calling attention to the tropes of its own genre while placing them in a larger historical and pseudo-scientific context. But whereas this meta-narrative examination felt fresh and exciting in Unbreakable, it now proves to be an utter bore.</p><p>That’s because deconstructionism – the form of philosophical and literary analysis that seeks to understand the relationship between a text and its meaning, often by acknowledging and/or subverting pre-existing conceptions or structural expectations – has become the modus operandi of superhero movies.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/shattered-glass-why-we-need-to-stop-deconstructing-our-superheroes">Continue reading...</a>M Night ShyamalanSplitFilmCultureSuperhero moviesSamuel L JacksonJames McAvoyBruce WillisThu, 17 Jan 2019 08:00:11 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/shattered-glass-why-we-need-to-stop-deconstructing-our-superheroesPhotograph: Allstar/BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONSPhotograph: Allstar/BLUMHOUSE PRODUCTIONSZach Vasquez2019-01-17T08:00:11ZSex Education: in praise of the raunchy yet heartfelt Netflix comedyhttps://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/17/sex-education-asa-butterfield-gillian-anderson-netflix
<p>The critically acclaimed series combines teen comedy tropes with remarkable honesty, offering a fully fleshed portrait of how high schoolers deal with sex and consent today</p><p>Netflix’s acclaimed new comedy Sex Education centers on the experiences of Otis, a 16-year-old virgin, played by Asa Butterfield, and his mom, Jean, a sex therapist, played by Gillian Anderson. Though Otis grows up in an ostensibly sex-positive home, he is incredibly uncomfortable about sex. He dislikes masturbating and is intensely afraid of being sexual with another person. “Let’s take things slow,” he tells a classmate, and they proceed to hold hands for 45 minutes.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/11/sex-education-review-netflix-asa-butterfield-gillian-anderson">Sex Education review – a horny teen comedy … and so much more</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/17/sex-education-asa-butterfield-gillian-anderson-netflix">Continue reading...</a>TV comedyNetflixGillian AndersonComedyCultureTelevisionTelevision & radioThu, 17 Jan 2019 09:00:12 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/17/sex-education-asa-butterfield-gillian-anderson-netflixPhotograph: Jon Hall/NetflixPhotograph: Jon Hall/NetflixArielle Bernstein2019-01-17T09:00:12ZLeaving New York: why Marvel is right to send Spider-Man far from homehttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/spider-man-far-from-home-marvel-venice-london-holiday-movie
<p>The teenage superhero slugs it out in Venice and London on a school holiday in the next Spider-Man movie. It’s a smart move</p><p>If any superhero is more intimately linked to their neighbourhood than Marvel’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/spider-man">Spider-Man</a>, it is probably DC’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/batman">Batman</a>, who belongs so fully to Gotham City that to extract him for more than the odd episode would be like sending the moon to spin around a gas giant in Alpha Centauri.</p><p>The wallcrawler comes a close second, however. It has always been Spidey’s job to keep the Big Apple safe, first and foremost, and none of the seven movies about Peter Parker’s alter ego have ventured far from the city. Spider-Man: Far from Home, the sequel to 2017’s barnstorming <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jun/29/spider-man-homecoming-review-tom-holland">Spider-Man: Homecoming</a>, will change all that, but perhaps not as we might first have imagined – if <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=159&amp;v=VUFmhKpZKlE">this week’s </a><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=159&amp;v=VUFmhKpZKlE"> trailer</a> is anything to go by.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/spider-man-far-from-home-marvel-venice-london-holiday-movie">Continue reading...</a>Superhero moviesSpider-Man: HomecomingTom HollandFilmCultureScience fiction and fantasy filmsMarvelSpider-ManThu, 17 Jan 2019 07:00:11 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/spider-man-far-from-home-marvel-venice-london-holiday-moviePhotograph: Courtesy of Sony PicturesPhotograph: Courtesy of Sony PicturesBen Child2019-01-17T07:00:11ZFighting Fyre with Fyre: the story of two warring festival documentarieshttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/16/fyre-festival-documentaries-hulu-netflix
<p>The failed music festival has inspired two new documentaries and a war off-screen over the morality of the film-makers involved</p><p>Scandal sells, or so it’s said, but few have captured the zeitgeist with quite the velocity as the rise and fall, in April 2017, of Fyre. The luxury music festival – a Bahamas-set Coachella with villas and supermodels, it promised – collapsed into financial fraud and memes of drunk twentysomethings scrambling for Fema tents and styrofoam tray meals, all direct to our screens.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jan/12/how-fyre-festival-went-up-in-flames-bella-hadid-ja-rule">'Closer to The Hunger Games than Coachella': why Fyre festival went up in flames</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/16/fyre-festival-documentaries-hulu-netflix">Continue reading...</a>Documentary filmsFilmCultureFestivalsNetflixHuluMusicWed, 16 Jan 2019 16:50:22 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/16/fyre-festival-documentaries-hulu-netflixPhotograph: HuluPhotograph: HuluAdrian Horton2019-01-16T16:50:22ZMaggie Rogers: Heard It in a Past Life review – Alaska hitmaker's debut lacks edgehttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/18/maggie-rogers-heard-it-in-a-past-life-review-alaska-hitmakers-debut-lacks-edge
<p><strong>(Capitol Records)</strong></p><p>Maggie Rogers’ career has been buoyed by one song: Alaska, released in October 2016 after a clip of Pharrell Williams <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/mar/16/maggie-rogers-pharrell-williams-speechless-tumbled-15-minutes-alaska" title="">being bowled over</a> by it went viral. Since then, Rogers has amassed three million monthly listeners on Spotify, done <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/feb/28/maggie-rogers-review-omeara-london" title="">well-received live shows</a>, and performed on Saturday Night Live, all with only an EP (and Bandcamp juvenilia) to her name. Now her debut album is here. Has it done justice to that evident promise? Unfortunately, what made Rogers stand out – a warmly idiosyncratic voice and a strong grasp of melody made less conventional with looping samples and unexpected beats – is still best showcased by her 2017 EP, Now That the Light Is Fading.</p><p>The best songs on this album are those that appeared on <a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/22901-now-that-the-light-is-fading/" title="">the EP</a>, such as On + Off – with its woozy, insistent vocal layering set to soft dubstep. Alaska also appears, as it must, looming over the rest of the album. The song remains well-crafted, the satisfying union between music and lyrics marking it out as a cut above the average viral hit. But on the album, Alaska sucks the energy out of the songs positioned either side of it: certainly the mid-tempo groover The Knife and lighter-waving ballad Light On don’t put up much of a fight. But Rogers’ elegant knack for production is subsumed by more prosaic emotional balladry on her debut, with lyrics that rely too heavily on imagery of light and dark. Illustrating this tendency is the recent single <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR1d8l92Q8Q" title="">Fallingwater</a>, unmemorable for all the gospel touches and devoid of edge. Even this song, however – unremarkable in the context of the album – Rogers transformed into something truly compelling during her <a href="https://youtu.be/MrO5GTVdc-Q" title="">recent barefoot </a><a href="https://youtu.be/MrO5GTVdc-Q" title="">performance on SNL</a>. She clearly has talent, but this album does its best to dim her light.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/18/maggie-rogers-heard-it-in-a-past-life-review-alaska-hitmakers-debut-lacks-edge">Continue reading...</a>MusicPop and rockCultureFolk musicFri, 18 Jan 2019 09:30:14 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/18/maggie-rogers-heard-it-in-a-past-life-review-alaska-hitmakers-debut-lacks-edgePhotograph: Olivia BeePhotograph: Olivia BeeElle Hunt2019-01-18T09:30:14ZAdam Curtis and Vice director Adam McKay on how Dick Cheney masterminded a rightwing revolutionhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/18/adam-curtis-and-vice-director-adam-mckay-on-how-dick-cheney-masterminded-a-rightwing-revolution
<p>We asked the British journalist and film-maker to talk to the director of Vice, the new biopic of the former vice-president, about the naked rightwing power grab that he orchestrated </p><p>Adam McKay’s Vice is a screwball biopic of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/dick-cheney" title="">Dick Cheney</a>, the man widely reckoned to be the most powerful vice-president in US history.<strong> </strong>It traces his rise from beer-brained dropout to an intern during the Nixon administration, then covers his tenure as secretary of defense during the Gulf war, and his time as George W Bush’s official deputy from 2001-2009<strong>.</strong></p><p>McKay, after establishing his career with comedies such as Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Step Brothers, moved into freewheeling, lightly fictionalised accounts of real-life events. His previous film was the financial-crash comedy <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jan/24/the-big-short-review-crash-riveting-steve-carell-christian-bale" title="">The Big Short</a><strong>.</strong></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/18/adam-curtis-and-vice-director-adam-mckay-on-how-dick-cheney-masterminded-a-rightwing-revolution">Continue reading...</a>ViceAdam CurtisDick CheneyFilmCultureAdam McKayFri, 18 Jan 2019 06:00:10 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/18/adam-curtis-and-vice-director-adam-mckay-on-how-dick-cheney-masterminded-a-rightwing-revolutionPhotograph: Allstar/Annapurna PicturesPhotograph: Allstar/Annapurna PicturesAs told to Paul MacInnes2019-01-18T06:00:10ZAJ Lambert: how Frank Sinatra's granddaughter does it her wayhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/18/aj-lambert-how-frank-sinatras-grandaughter-does-it-her-way
<p>The only Sinatra descendent to sing Frank’s songs, Lambert is releasing her debut album at the age of 44, after being delayed by drink, drugs – and the shadow of her legendary family<br></p><p>In a cramped rehearsal room on a side street in Brooklyn, AJ Lambert and her band are quibbling over the order of their set, trying to make sure it contains contrast and dynamism. It includes a handful of covers of songs by Shame, Spoon, TV on the Radio, Robert Wyatt and Chris Bell, all radically repurposed by the band of two synths, bass and drums. The setlist also contains a handful of Sinatra standards and these need to be especially well-judged. After all, Sinatra was Lambert’s grandfather.</p><p>“When I hear things he sings, I hear them through some other filter,” she tells me later. “I hear them as a fan, but also as a human being I knew.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/18/aj-lambert-how-frank-sinatras-grandaughter-does-it-her-way">Continue reading...</a>Pop and rockMusicCultureFrank SinatraCelebrityFri, 18 Jan 2019 06:00:13 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/18/aj-lambert-how-frank-sinatras-grandaughter-does-it-her-wayPhotograph: Record Company HandoutPhotograph: Record Company HandoutMichael Hann2019-01-18T06:00:13ZMonopoly film adaptation to star Kevin Hart gets go aheadhttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/kevin-hart-monopoly-film
<p>After repeated attempts to get a movie based on the board game off the ground, Hart will play the lead in what is likely to be a live-action caper</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/kevin-hart">Kevin Hart</a> has signed up to play the lead role in a film based on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/monopoly">the Monopoly board game</a>, it has emerged.</p><p><a href="https://deadline.com/2019/01/kevin-hart-monopoly-movie-lionsgate-hasbro-tim-story-oscars-1202536383/">According to Deadline</a>, Hart has joined the long-gestating project along with Tim Story, who directed him in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/27/ride-along-review-ice-cube">Ride Along</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/sep/27/night-school-review-kevin-hart-malcolm-d-lee">Night School</a>. Hart is also credited as one of the producers. Other than the suggestion it will be live-action, no other details are known.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/kevin-hart-monopoly-film">Continue reading...</a>FilmKevin HartMonopolyBoard gamesCultureLife and styleThu, 17 Jan 2019 17:27:26 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/kevin-hart-monopoly-filmPhotograph: Paula Lobo/ABC via Getty ImagesPhotograph: Paula Lobo/ABC via Getty ImagesAndrew Pulver2019-01-17T17:27:26ZMary Oliver, Pulitzer prize-winning poet, dies aged 83https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/17/mary-oliver-death-poet
<p>The poet, known for her nature and wildlife-themed work, died at her home from lymphoma</p><p>Mary Oliver, the Pulitzer prize-winning poet whose rapturous odes to nature and animal life brought her critical acclaim and popular affection, has died. She was 83. Bill Reichblum, Oliver’s literary executor, said she died on Thursday at her home in Hobe Sound, Florida. The cause of death was lymphoma.</p><p>Author of more than 15 poetry and essay collections, Oliver wrote brief, direct pieces that sang of her worship of the outdoors and disdain for greed, despoilment and other human crimes. One of her favorite adjectives was “perfect”, and rarely did she apply it to people. Her muses were owls and butterflies, frogs and geese, the changes of the seasons, the sun and the stars.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/17/mary-oliver-death-poet">Continue reading...</a>PoetryBooksCultureThu, 17 Jan 2019 17:44:52 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jan/17/mary-oliver-death-poetPhotograph: Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesAssociated Press2019-01-17T17:44:52ZHello again, Dolly! Stars who return to the same roles – in pictureshttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2019/jan/18/hello-again-dolly-carol-channing-stars-who-return-to-same-roles
<p>Carol Channing, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jan/15/carol-channing-star-of-hello-dolly-on-broadway-dies-aged-97">who died earlier this week</a>, played the title role in Hello, Dolly! more than 5,000 times between the 1960s and 90s. Which other stars have reprised the same characters?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2019/jan/18/hello-again-dolly-carol-channing-stars-who-return-to-same-roles">Continue reading...</a>StageTheatreCultureMusicalsCarol ChanningWest EndAdrian LesterLaurence OlivierHelen MirrenMaggie SmithGlenn CloseJudi DenchIan McKellenDenzel WashingtonFilmFri, 18 Jan 2019 15:06:08 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2019/jan/18/hello-again-dolly-carol-channing-stars-who-return-to-same-rolesPhotograph: Reg Wilson/REX/ShutterstockPhotograph: Reg Wilson/REX/Shutterstock2019-01-18T15:06:08ZGlass review – M Night Shyamalan's superheroes assemblehttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/glass-review-m-night-shyamalan-samuel-l-jackson-james-mcavoy
<p>The director unites Samuel L Jackson, Bruce Willis and James McAvoy from earlier films in a pointless supernatural sequel</p><p>With a bumper helping of pointlessness, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jul/21/glass-trailer-m-night-shyamalan-previews-superhero-film" title="">M Night Shyamalan</a> has created a bulky, lengthy, anti-climactic sequel to two of his previous films: the smart <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/27/split-review-james-mcavoy-m-night-shyamalan-fantastic-fest-austin" title="">horror-thriller Split (2016)</a> and the deeply strange mystery Unbreakable (2000), fusing them into a kind of own-brand superhero franchise. There’s a cheeky dig at a certain comic-book institution when a magazine announces Philadelphia’s newest, biggest skyscraper (a possible showdown site) as an architectural “marvel’’.</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/14/james-mcavoy-m-night-shyamalan-horror-film-split" title="">James McAvoy</a> reprises his bravura plural-performance from Split, playing the Horde, a villain with dissociative identity disorder. Bruce Willis is back as David Dunn, the guy who miraculously survived a train crash in Unbreakable with superstrength. These days, he’s roaming the streets as a lone avenger, nicknamed the Overseer, wearing a signature hooded black poncho (which surely limits his movement and field of vision?) in partnership with his now grownup son Joseph, played again by Spencer Treat Clark, who handles the admin and monitors social media coverage back at base. And locked away in a psychiatric facility is Shyamalan’s strangest creation, Mr Glass, played by Samuel L Jackson, a villain with the bizarre superweakness of ultra-fragile bones, balanced by excessive cerebral brilliance.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/glass-review-m-night-shyamalan-samuel-l-jackson-james-mcavoy">Continue reading...</a>Science fiction and fantasy filmsFilmCultureDrama filmsM Night ShyamalanBruce WillisSamuel L JacksonJames McAvoyThu, 17 Jan 2019 06:00:11 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/17/glass-review-m-night-shyamalan-samuel-l-jackson-james-mcavoyPhotograph: null/Universal PicturesPhotograph: null/Universal PicturesPeter Bradshaw2019-01-17T06:00:11ZJames Blake: Assume Form review – lovestruck producer turns dark into light | Alexis Petridis' album of the weekhttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/17/james-blake-assume-form-review-lovestruck-producer-turns-dark-into-light
<p>Blake is clearly in a good place, unexpectedly embedded at the centre of pop culture, and his new album adds bright colours to his sound</p><p>It feels strange now to recall a time when <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/james-blake">James Blake</a>’s elevation from underground post-dubstep auteur to hotly-tipped mainstream artist seemed like the result of a clerical error. It was hard not to be impressed by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/feb/03/james-blake-album-review">his eponymous 2011 debut album</a>, but it was equally hard not to wonder whether this really was the stuff of which silver medals in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_of...">BBC Sound of …</a> poll and spots on the Radio 1 A-list were made. If you listened to its sparse, abstract, deeply uncommercial assemblages of treated vocals, electronics and piano, there was something very odd indeed about his name being mentioned in the same breath as Jessie J.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/17/james-blake-assume-form-review-lovestruck-producer-turns-dark-into-light">Continue reading...</a>James BlakeMusicCultureElectronic musicOutkastTravis ScottDubstepThu, 17 Jan 2019 12:00:16 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/jan/17/james-blake-assume-form-review-lovestruck-producer-turns-dark-into-lightPhotograph: Publicity imagePhotograph: Publicity imageAlexis Petridis2019-01-17T12:00:16ZThe Passage review – a vampire drama to sink your teeth intohttps://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/15/passage-review-mark-paul-gosselaar-saniyya-sidney-justin-cronin-vaccine
<p>The hunt is on to create a super-vaccine to save humanity from a vampiric vaccine-gone-wrong in this credible, pacy take on Justin Cronin’s bestseller</p><p>How wise dear Blaise Pascal was when he wrote: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jul/19/change-your-life-sit-down-and-think">to sit quietly in a room alone</a>.” If only the good doctors in the opening scenes of this adaptation of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/jul/18/the-passage-justin-cronin-orion">Justin Cronin’s bestseller The Passage</a> <a href="https://www.fox.com/the-passage/">(Fox)</a> had imbibed his words before they went spelunking for vampires.</p><p>That’s your mistake, you see. If you hear rumour of a 250-year-old man surviving in a Bolivian cave, just … leave it. No good can come, y’know?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/15/passage-review-mark-paul-gosselaar-saniyya-sidney-justin-cronin-vaccine">Continue reading...</a>Television & radioTelevisionCultureDramaHorror booksTue, 15 Jan 2019 22:00:04 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/15/passage-review-mark-paul-gosselaar-saniyya-sidney-justin-cronin-vaccinePhotograph: FoxPhotograph: FoxLucy Mangan2019-01-15T22:00:04ZTrue Detective review – sufficiently gripping despite the mumblinghttps://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/14/true-detective-review-sufficiently-gripping-despite-the-mumbling
<p>Stifling atmosphere, deep and meaningful conversations and intersecting timelines are all present as the one-time cultural phenomenon tries to salvage its reputation with its third series</p><p>When True Detective (Sky Atlantic) first appeared in early 2014, it was impossible to predict that it would become the cultural phenomenon it did, even with the star power of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson firing it up from its core. Neither could anyone have anticipated the Icarus-like fall that came with its second season, which took its wares to California and disintegrated into a confusing and aimless mess that wasted the presence of Rachel McAdams and Colin Farrell.</p><p>It is little wonder, then, that the third season, which opens with a double bill, has a sense of back-to-basics about it. There’s a hardboiled detective duo at the centre once again, Roland West and Wayne Hays, this time played by Stephen Dorff and an outstanding Mahershala Ali. They’re in Arkansas, investigating the disappearance of two children on bikes, made all the more ominous by the presence of creepy, hand-crafted dolls (a less rustic version of the twiggy effigies in season one, as if the maker had done an NVQ in arts and crafts). It’s a tough, grizzled man’s world, and Ali and Dorff have the gruff deep-and-meaningful mumblings to prove it. It’s as if Rust Cohle never left.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/14/true-detective-review-sufficiently-gripping-despite-the-mumbling">Continue reading...</a>True DetectiveTelevision & radioCultureTelevisionMon, 14 Jan 2019 23:20:35 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jan/14/true-detective-review-sufficiently-gripping-despite-the-mumblingPhotograph: HBOPhotograph: HBORebecca Nicholson2019-01-14T23:20:35ZFyre review — viral festival disaster relived in shocking Netflix documentaryhttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jan/14/fyre-netflix-documentary-festival-disaster-review
<p>Few are left off the hook in this serious-minded study of Fyre festival’s spectacularly tweetable rise and fall</p><p>One of the more dizzying aspects of internet life is the the surreal experience of digital adjacency – present but not in person, you help narrativize an event, in real time, through engagement. You see Kanye West’s breakdown devolve tweet by refreshed tweet, or live Coachella through your cousin’s boyfriend’s Instagram stories. And in April 2017, many on social media reveled in the collapse of Fyre festival, a supermodel-touted luxury music festival that spectacularly imploded into memes of drunk, concert-less millennials stranded in the Bahamas.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jan/07/bird-box-sandra-bullock-netflix-memes-hit">Flying high: how Bird Box became Netflix's biggest hit to date</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jan/14/fyre-netflix-documentary-festival-disaster-review">Continue reading...</a>CultureFilmDocumentary filmsNetflixFestivalsMon, 14 Jan 2019 05:00:28 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/jan/14/fyre-netflix-documentary-festival-disaster-reviewPhotograph: NetflixPhotograph: NetflixAdrian Horton2019-01-14T05:00:28ZBauhaus at 100: its legacy in five key designshttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/jan/21/bauhaus-at-100-its-legacy-in-five-key-designs
<p>The aesthetic of the German art school has influenced everything from typography at airports to iPhones. Here are five key designs</p><p>• <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jan/20/bauhaus-at-100-the-revolutionary-movements-enduring-appeal">Rowan Moore on 100 years of Bauhaus</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/jan/21/bauhaus-at-100-its-legacy-in-five-key-designs">Continue reading...</a>BauhausArt and designArchitectureGraphic designiPhoneCultureMon, 21 Jan 2019 08:00:10 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/jan/21/bauhaus-at-100-its-legacy-in-five-key-designsPhotograph: dpa picture alliance/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Stock PhotoPhotograph: dpa picture alliance/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Stock PhotoRowan Moore2019-01-21T08:00:10ZVintage ski posters – in pictureshttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/jan/21/vintage-ski-posters-in-pictures
<p>A collection of vintage ski and winter sports posters up to a century old – some worth thousands of dollars – is about to be auctioned in New York. The resorts advertised range from Europe’s Alpine jewels to the mountains of Canada, and all offer fun in the outdoors</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/jan/21/vintage-ski-posters-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>PostersSkiingArt and designCultureDesignSki resortsSportTravelAdvertisingMarketing & PRMediaFranceAustriaSwitzerlandCanadaNew YorkUS newsEuropeWorld newsCollectingMon, 21 Jan 2019 07:00:07 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/jan/21/vintage-ski-posters-in-picturesPhotograph: Courtesy of Swann Auction GalleriesPhotograph: Courtesy of Swann Auction Galleries2019-01-21T07:00:07ZThe big picture: siesta in a hammock shophttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jan/20/big-picture-paul-trevor-sleeper
Paul Trevor’s photograph of a sleeping shopkeeper in 80s Mexico is part of his ongoing collection featuring people napping<p>When British photographer <a href="http://paultrevor.com" title="">Paul Trevor</a> was travelling around the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico in the 1980s, he stayed at a hotel where guests had to bring their own hammocks. “You went into the bedroom and there were just two hooks,” he recalls. “So you needed to provide your own, otherwise you slept on the floor.” He headed out to buy one, but found the owner of the local shop asleep in front of his folded-up hammocks.</p><p>Careful not to disturb the slumbering shopkeeper, Paul Trevor quietly photographed the scene and left. (He returned to buy a hammock later.) This photo joined a growing collection he’d been putting together since he started out in photography a decade earlier. In an ongoing project, brought together in his new book <a href="https://www.caferoyalbooks.com/shop/paul-trevor-sleeper" title=""><em>Sleeper</em>,</a> he photographs people – and sometimes animals – napping. “It’s something I’m drawn to: there’s something very serene, very peaceful about it,” he says.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jan/20/big-picture-paul-trevor-sleeper">Continue reading...</a>PhotographyArt and designCultureSun, 20 Jan 2019 07:00:14 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jan/20/big-picture-paul-trevor-sleeperPhotograph: Paul TrevorPhotograph: Paul TrevorKathryn Bromwich2019-01-20T07:00:14ZBling and beauty: Dakar's fashion comes of age – photo essayhttps://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jan/18/bling-and-beauty-dakars-fashion-comes-of-age-photo-essay
<p>Photojournalist <strong>Finbarr O’Reilly</strong> has been covering Dakar fashion week for over a decade. He charts the city’s burgeoning style scene</p><p>Alongside its golden beaches, glitzy nightclubs and vibrant music scene, Senegal’s capital, Dakar, is emerging as a key African fashion hub.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jan/18/bling-and-beauty-dakars-fashion-comes-of-age-photo-essay">Continue reading...</a>CitiesFashionSenegalAfricaLife and styleWorld newsArt and designCultureFri, 18 Jan 2019 12:00:19 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/jan/18/bling-and-beauty-dakars-fashion-comes-of-age-photo-essayPhotograph: Finbarr O'ReillyPhotograph: Finbarr O'ReillyGuardian Staff2019-01-18T12:00:19ZCarla Kogelman's best photograph: children playing on a swinghttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jan/17/carla-kogelman-best-photograph-children-playing-on-a-swing
<p>‘They’re in their own world and don’t see me. It’s a nostalgic image, with a touch of magic from those disembodied feet and hands’</p><p>I took the picture in the summer of 2013, in a rural part of northern <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/austria">Austria</a>. I grew up in Holland. I went back there in 2012 to try to recapture my own childhood, but the farm where I was born no longer existed and the people I knew as a child no longer lived there. And then I found my childhood – or what I wished it had been – here, in the Austrian countryside.</p><p>I was asked to do <a href="https://guardianbookshop.com/i-am-waldviertel.html">a documentary project about the Waldviertel region</a>, which is how I came to meet these two local little girls, Hannah and Alena. Their mother, Sonja, asked if I would take some pictures of them.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jan/17/carla-kogelman-best-photograph-children-playing-on-a-swing">Continue reading...</a>PhotographyArtAustriaChildrenCultureFamilyArt and design booksExhibitionsArt and designSocietyLife and styleBooksThu, 17 Jan 2019 06:00:11 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/jan/17/carla-kogelman-best-photograph-children-playing-on-a-swingPhotograph: Carla KogelmanPhotograph: Carla KogelmanInterview by Dale Berning Sawa2019-01-17T06:00:11ZSmile, dad! Alternative family portraitshttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/jan/16/photo-50-london-art-fair-family-portraits
<p>From artfully photobombed beach holiday snaps to the soulful portraits of a birdwatching brother with schizophrenia – this year’s <a href="https://www.londonartfair.co.uk/photo50/">Photo50 at London art fair</a> exhibition goes inside the family photo</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/jan/16/photo-50-london-art-fair-family-portraits">Continue reading...</a>PhotographyArt and designCultureExhibitionsFamilyWed, 16 Jan 2019 07:00:14 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/jan/16/photo-50-london-art-fair-family-portraitsPhotograph: Amak MahmoodianPhotograph: Amak Mahmoodian2019-01-16T07:00:14ZGillian Anderson in All About Eve rehearsals – in pictureshttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2019/jan/16/gillian-anderson-in-all-about-eve-rehearsals-in-pictures
<p>Anderson returns to the London stage in an adaptation of the Oscar winner All About Eve. Here’s a look behind the scenes of Ivo van Hove’s production</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2019/jan/16/gillian-anderson-in-all-about-eve-rehearsals-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>TheatreStageCultureGillian AndersonIvo van HoveWest EndPJ HarveyWed, 16 Jan 2019 17:46:11 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2019/jan/16/gillian-anderson-in-all-about-eve-rehearsals-in-picturesPhotograph: Jan VersweyveldPhotograph: Jan Versweyveld2019-01-16T17:46:11ZCarol Channing – a life in pictureshttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2019/jan/15/carol-channing-a-life-in-pictures
<p>She faced off against a gun-toting Clint Eastwood, charmed Broadway in Hello, Dolly! and performed with the Muppets. A look back at the comedy legend’s career on stage and screen</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jan/15/carol-channing-broadway-and-film-star-with-a-husky-comic-drawl">Carol Channing: the sparky star with a husky comic drawl</a></li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jan/15/carol-channing-star-of-hello-dolly-on-broadway-dies-aged-97">Carol Channing dies aged 97</a></li></ul> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2019/jan/15/carol-channing-a-life-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a>Carol ChanningStageCultureTheatreFilmComedyBroadwayMusicalsMusicalsUS newsTue, 15 Jan 2019 14:48:29 GMThttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2019/jan/15/carol-channing-a-life-in-picturesPhotograph: Reg Wilson/REX/ShutterstockPhotograph: Reg Wilson/REX/Shutterstock2019-01-15T14:48:29Z